It is well known that thermal and photochemical yellowing are major problems in image stability of color prints. It is also known that yellowing is caused by decomposition of residual magenta coupler (i.e. coupler that has not reacted to form dye) on exposure of the print to light and/or to heat and humidity. Over the years significant improvement in thermal and photochemical yellowing has been achieved by introducing magenta couplers that are less prone to yellowing. However, there still exists a need to further improve the position with respect to yellowing in color paper.
It has been suggested that certain epoxy compounds are able to undergo reaction with residual magenta couplers and thereby effectively prevent both thermal and photochemical yellowing since the products of the reaction are not yellow and are not prone to yellowing. See for example U.S. Pat. No. 4,540,657 to Krishnamurthy and Japanese Patent Publication No. 62-131259 to Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd. The incorporation of sparingly soluble epoxy compounds into photographic elements for other purposes is also disclosed in the art. See for example U.S. Pat. No. 4,900,655 to Nakazyo and European Patent Publication No. 471,347 to Tomiyama. However, attempts to incorporate such compounds in a photographic element in the manner suggested in the art to prevent yellowing have resulted in a loss of color density in the print. There is therefore a need to devise a method for inhibiting the thermal and photochemical yellowing in color prints without reducing the color density of the print.